Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: John 3:16

Theme: Because the Father's love is a giving love, our love needs to be a giving love.

Date: 12/09/2018 File name: AdventOfLove.wpd

ID Number:

This is the second in a series of sermons on Advent.

Every Sunday during the Advent season, we light Advent Candles that stand for a different Christmas virtue.

Last Sunday I preached on the Advent of Hope.

Next Sunday I’ll preach on the Advent of Joy.

This morning, I want to preach on the Advent of Love.

We live in a society were so many other things pass for cheep substitutes of true, Godly, as-it-was-meant-to-be biblical love.

If you would closely study the gospels, you would discover that each defines love in a particular way.

In Matthew's gospel we see that true love is a sacrificial love that puts the lives and needs of others before our own.

In Mark's gospel the writer sees true love as a life of service to others that examines the cost and is willing to pay the price of being a humble servant.

In Luke's gospel, the good doctor tells us that true love is a healing love.

It reaches out to those around us who are hurting whether they are intimate acquaintances or even strangers and seeks their betterment.

Here, in John’s gospel, the apostle tells us that true love gives everything it has.

It holds back nothing.

Our great example is God Himself who "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all" (Rom.

8:31).

This kind of love is the essence, the core, the center, the focus, the hub of the Christmas story.

Love permeates every aspect of the Christmas story: God so loved the world that he send his Only Begotten Son, and Yahweh so loved us that he deigned to become the Babe of Bethlehem — and later, as the man Jesus, to suffer, die, and rise again for us.

Christmastime is a season when love of God and of our fellowmen fills us all, but the real challenge is to continue feeling and showing that love when Christmas is over so that it fills the entire year.

When John wrote, For God so loved the world, he was writing a truth that is for all classes of people.

He wrote for all races of people, all ages of people, and all conditions of people.

He presents Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the supreme, sovereign Lord God Almighty as our Heavenly Father.

John wanted his readers to know that this Heavenly Father has given his only Son for their sins.

John saw the love of Jesus as a love which gives.

Let me share with you the lessons of this kind of love.

I. TRUE LOVE ENCOURAGES US TO GIVE OF OURSELVES TO OTHERS

1. we live in a society where many people are suffering from what sociologists call compassion fatigue

a. a lot of people are just tired of constantly helping others in need, and repeatedly being asked to help others in need

1) they are tired of being compassionate toward others because they are, well ... just tired

2. the Apostle Paul recognized that even Godly people — Christian people — can grow weary because of constant ministry toward others

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

(Galatians 6:9–10, NIV84)

a. when Paul writes let us not become weary in doing good he know that weariness often comes with doing good toward others

b. in the same breath he encourages his listeners to not give up because there is a harvest the Christian will reap because of their ministry and service to others in the name of Jesus

c. we need to be willing to offer what is needed most — ourselves!

ILLUS.

When I was growing up, my mother had a saying, “If everyone will do a ‘little bit’ more than their fair share, then everything will get done.”

It's a code I've tried to live by in my own life.

1) that’s true in the home, the office, benevolent institutions, service organizations, and even the church — “If everyone will do a ‘little bit’ more than their fair share, then everything will get done.”

3. Christians must be actively engaged in ministry and must penetrate the institutions of society

a. that is what God’s love did

1) His love for His elect brought Him to earth

2) God invaded human history in the person of Jesus

3) as a man, He penetrated the society of His day with the gospel of the Kingdom

b. true love for God and true love for men demands nothing less

1) we cannot, we must not be like the box turtle — pulling our heads into our shells and hoping that someone else will deal with the problems, needs, and issues in the lives of people around us

4. personal involvement is the only way we are going to make a difference in the world in which we live

a. the question is, will we give our church and our community what it needs the most?

b.

US!

5. there are a lot of Christians who are doing nothing for either their church or their community, but there are no Christians who have nothing to do

A. GOD IS OUR SUPREME EXAMPLE OF TRUE LOVE THAT GIVES SELFLESSLY

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever Believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

(John 3:16, NIV)

1. God gave us what we needed most — Himself!

a. God established a covenant with Abraham, but He knew that wouldn't be enough ...

b.

God gave the Law to Moses, but He knew that wouldn't be enough ...

c.

God gave the ritual sacrifices to Israel, but He knew that wouldn't be enough ...

d.

God gave His word to the prophets, but He knew that wouldn't be enough ...

e. but in the fullness of time according the Scriptures, God gave us exactly what we needed most — His very own presence

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

(Romans 5:6-8, NIV)

2. God loved us so much, that He invested His own life in ours by becoming one of us in the form of His son, Jesus who is the Christ

a.

He then expended great personal effort in teaching the people of his day about the Kingdom of God, in healing the sick, in ministering to the afflicted often to the point of exhaustion

b. ultimately He poured out His life's blood as a sacrifice for our sin so that we might know true forgiveness and redemption

1) this is how, according to Paul, God demonstrated His love for us

c.

God loves us because He chooses to love us

3. true love cost God dearly

a. Christ died for the ungodly, according to the Bible

1) God’s love for us is due to Himself, not because of any worthiness on our part

b. when God decided to say I love you He laid aside his glory and picked up the dusty wrap of humanity and lived among us for 33 years

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” (Colossians 1:21-22, NIV)

c. the sovereign God of the universe is our supreme example of a love that gives selflessly

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1–2, NIV)

B. TRUE LOVE ALWAYS GIVES REGARDLESS OF THE PERSONAL COST

1. true love is never cheep, because it will always cost us what we rarely want to invest ourselves

"Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."

(1 Corinthians 10:24, NIV)

2. if you are going to live in the service of others, you will certainly be pierced through with many sorrows

a. you will meet with more base ingratitude from your fellow men than you would from a dog

ILLUS.

Mark Twain, who was not a Christian, understood man's real nature.

He once quipped, “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you.

This is the principal difference between a dog and man.”

b. when you minister to others you may well meet with unkindness and two-facedness

3. and if your motivation for this selfless service is love for your fellow men, you will be exhausted in the battle of life and you will be tempted to throw in the towel

4. but if the motivation of your service is love for God, no ingratitude, no sin, no devil, no angel, will hinder you from serving your fellow men, no matter how they treat you.

a. if you love Jesus Christ, you will serve humanity, though men and women treat you like a doormat

5. and why would any of us be willing to put ourselves through this?